Extreme Knitting Redhead: Bits and Bobs

Monday, December 13, 2021

Bits and Bobs

I'm trying desperately not to sulk but not succeeding - I'm on the injury bench with a shin splint (a swelling in the lower part of the leg near to the ankle) and it's jolly painful just walking for more than a couple of miles let alone trying any running which is out of the question until the swelling goes down. This means I may have to miss a marathon at the weekend where 1 of my running chums will be completing her 200th marathon. I've iced, stretched, compressed and rested but it's still giving me jip after 10 days so it's really not looking hopeful for the weekend. To make matters worse, we've just done some video clips for Alzheimer's Research UK for their 'Gifts in Wills' campaign. I've been involved in this many times before but this is the first time we've done it at home with Mike filming me and OMG the giggling that ensued - I could not string a sentence together without jumbling up my words!!! We completed it eventually but it was not my finest hour. On the knitting front, I'm just finishing off the collar of my Skog sweater and it's really lovely. Here are a few snippets: Joining the pieces together was much easier than I thought as I used the extra long pins to match up the selvedges of the sleeves:

Then stitched along the line:

It formed a neat seam on the inside with no hint of it on the outside:

I tried it on and it's just how I hoped it would look so very pleased. I'll style it and show it on here when it's finished blocking. Next up is the gorgeous Ponderosa sweater from Wool and Pine. I knew I'd have to make it as soon as I saw it but couldn't find any appropriate yarn in my stash (yes, I know that's a load of nonsense but I really wanted a blue similar to the Pigment and Ply yarn shown in the photo). Thankfully I spotted this gorgeous Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply on Lovecrafts and that was it, straight into the basket without a care!!!

Oh my goodness it's soooo pretty. Then I finally bit the bullet and treated myself to a yarn swift and a ball winder. What fun - gone are the days of Mike holding a hank in his hands and me winding it into a ball. It's so quick and easy!

I apologise for the strange formatting but Blogger doesn't seem to pay any attention ot paragraph breaks any more and so everything gets bundled together! Stay safe everyone.

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.